People involved in running sports or activities involving quick foot movement should have their ankles taped or wrapped with elastic bandages before any strenuous activities. Properly applied tape or elastic bandages will add support to the ankle area and prevent injury and secure previously injured tissues in place.
Many individuals experience difficulty from their ankles but do not have adequate training or assistance to properly wrap the weak ankles for greatest support and protection. This is most often true of athletes and older individuals. The elderly, in addition to ankle support problems, may also have other infirmaties (such as rheumatism or arthritis) that severely limit their physical abilities to apply the usual ankle wrap. Even so, it remains desirable to properly tape or bandage weak or injured ankles to avoid injury and provide the comfort that added support brings.
Conventional ankle wrapping operations are fairly complex operations, best left to trained personnel when existing tape or elastic bandages are used. Proper training is not typically available to the individual. Even trained athletes are not often trained to properly apply tape or elastic wrap to the correct areas of the ankle for best support and protection.
There is also the possibility that incorrect tension can be applied even though the tape or wrap is properly positioned. Too much tension will cause discomfort, cut off circulation, and inhibit free dorsiflexion and plantar flexion of the foot. Too little tension will defeat the purpose of the wrap to strengthen the joint against unwanted inversion and eversion of the foot.
Ankle wrapping is a slow and tedious process. With athletes, wrapping takes up valuable practice or competition time and valuable time of the trained attendant. Because of the time loss and tedious nature of the wrapping process, many forego wrapping or taping and simply risk the ankle injury.
The relatively high cost of tape is another consideration that causes many to forego ankle wrapping. Most tape can be applied only once, and when removed, cannot be adequately used again. Elastic wrap can be used again but requires extra care in application due its elastic nature and the tendency to cut off circulation to the extremities of the foot.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,367,733 to Stromgren represents a partial recognition of the above problems. Stromgren discloses an ankle support that makes use of an elastic stocking member having one end of an elongated elastic strap secured thereto. The open toed stocking member can be slipped over the foot adjacent the ankle area. The elongated strap is then wrapped about the ankle in a specified procedure, similar to that used with conventional elastic wrap. The wrapping procedure requires an adequate understanding of the proper placement for wraps to secure the ankle in a "double heel lock" as desired with conventional wrapping.
Stromgren provides securing patches by which sections of the elastic bandage are held in position in relation to one another. The securing patches are placed across the strap. The patches are spaced apart so that they will come together once the elastic strap has been properly wrapped about the foot and ankle. The connecting patches are intended to serve as guides for indicating proper wrapping procedures to the user. An elastic bandage, however, can be made to stretch substantially more than its ordinary length. The bandage could therefore be stretched to misposition the patches and consquently misguide the trainer or wearer as to proper application and tension.
Stromgren illustrates the need commonly experienced by athletes or others who attempt to wrap or tape their own ankles. It effectively anchors one end of the elongated strap and, in that regard, assists in the wrapping procedure. However, a need remains for a reusable ankle support that can be easily, quickly, and effectively applied without risking improper positioning of the various desired support elements and that can be applied in a compact manner such that the wrap does not interfere with shoes or other footwear.
An earlier attempt to fulfill the above needs is found in U.S. Pat. No. 2,446,902 to Jane Brand. Brand attaches two elastic straps to a larger single elastic strap, forming a somewhat tubular shaped support. The support can be positioned over the foot and heel area with the two smaller strap sections extending about the back or posterior surface of the heel and the plantar surface of the foot. The larger strap extends over the dorsal surface of the foot in the area of the ankle. The straps, being fixed to one another, limit use of the support to a particular size.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,699,959 to Garrahan discloses an ankle wrap making use of a heel lock formed of an elastic strap. An elongated free end of the strap extends from the heel lock to be wrapped in a substantially conventional manner about the wearer's ankle.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,777,751 to Wise discloses an ankle support strap using a loop at one end as a heel lock. The loop secures one end of the strap to the foot. The free strap end is then used to wrap the ankle area.
U.S. Pat. No. 1,374,669 to McClellan discloses a lace or buckle type support that can be strapped into position on the wearer's foot. Tension is adjusted by a buckle arrangement.
U.S. Pat. No. 991,831 to Collis discloses a stocking type ankle support made up of interconnected sections of elastic and nonelastic materials. This support performs a function somewhat similar to existing forms of support stockings.
A somewhat similar support arrangement is illustrated in U.S. Pat. No. 3,934,583 to Hollingshead et al. The Hollingsead device includes a stocking arrangement that is folded from a flat pattern configuration. When folded, the flat pattern resembles the Collis support stocking.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,166,460 to Applegate discloses an ankle protector with a stocking used to support attached lengths of wrap that can be wound about the wearer's ankle and lower leg to secure substantially rigid brace members in position relative to a heel cup.
Of the above references, none show or suggest a complete, adequate solution to the problem in providing an easily positioned, reusable, compact, and comfortable support for a wearer's foot and ankle area that can be quickly applied by the wearer without requiring additional help and that will not add significant bulk to specific areas of the wearer's ankle.